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Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture. 

AT 

ITS  ANNIVERSARY  MEETING,  JANUARY  19, 1819. 


BY  WILLIAM  I RAWLE,         ^ 

ONE  OF  THE  MEMBERS. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SOCIETY 
William  Fry,  Pripter 
1819. 


Officers  of  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  *igriculture. 
Elected  January  I9th,  1819. 

President, 
RICHARD  PETERS. 

Vice  Presidents. 

WILLIAM  TILGHMAN,        GEORGE  LOGAN,  o/^^mn/on. 
JAMES  MEASE,  M.  D.  WILLIAM  COLEMAN,  of  Lancaster 

Treasurer, 
EDWARD  BURD. 

Secretary. 

ROBERTS  VAUX. 

•Assistant  Secretary, 
^  RICHARD  WISTAR,  Jun. 

Committee  of  Correspondence, 
RICHARD  PETERS,  JAMES  MEASE, 

WILLIAM  TILGHMAN,  ZACCHEUS  COLLINS, 

JOHN  VAUGHAN. 

Curators, 
ISAAC  C.  JONES,  REUBEN  HAINES, 

JAMES  M.  BROOME,  JOSEPH  R.  PAXSON, 

STEPHEN  DUNCAN. 


P 


K3 


Hall  of  the  Agricultural  Society^ 

January  19,  1819. 

At  an  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  So- 
ciety for  Promoting  Agriculture,  it  was 

Resolved  unanimously — That  the  thanks  of  the 
Society  be  presented  to  William  Rawle,  Esquire, 
for  the  address  delivered  by  him  this  day  before 
the  Society,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a 
copy  for  publication. 

From  the  minutes  truly  extracted, 

Roberts  Vaux,  Sec'ry. 


rvi511573 


1 


ADDRESS. 


It  has  not  appeared  to  me  to  be  foreign  to  the 
views  and  character  of  our  Society,  to  consider 
the  subject  of  migration  to  this  country,  in  its 
present  national  aspect;  and  to  endeavour  to  as- 
certain to  what  extent  and  in  what  mode  it  is 
proper,  in  reference  to  our  agricultural  interest 
to  promote  and  encourage  it. 

Of  late  years  these  United  States  have  become 
the  general  receptacle  of  migration. 

We  hear  of  no,  considerable  removals  from  one 
part  of  Europe  to  another,  with  views  of  perma- 
nent residence. 

The  oppressed  and  discontented  yeomanry  of 
England  or  Ireland,  do  not  migrate  to  France  or 
Germany. 

The  bearing  of  this  subject  is  therefore  with  us 
the  converse  of  that  which  strikes  the  statesmen 
of  Europe.  With  them  it  is  a  frequent  question 
how  to  prevent  migration ;  in  some  places  it  is 
wholly  prohibited ;  in  othei-s  it  is  checked  and  re- 
strained, as  far  as  lies  in  their  power.  Without 
reforming  the  abuses  which  impel  their  subjects 
to  encounter  the  expense  and  peiil  of  crossing 
an  ocean  in  quest  of  an  asylum,  they  endeavour 


to  convert  their  territories  into  vast  gaols,  in 
which  the  impatience  of  evil  is  increased  by  the 
impossibility  of  escape. 

No  such  system  has  ever  existed  with  us.  The 
right  of  removal  has  always  been  recognised  as  one 
of  the  rights  of  man;  and  the  natural  and  political 
advantages  of  our  country,  have  rendered  it  need- 
less to  encroach  on  or  impair  this  principle.  Our 
migrations  in  considerable  bodies,  are  limited  to 
other  parts  of  our  own  countries.  Enterprising  in- 
dividuals, chiefly  led  by  commercial  views,  may 
however  be  found,  as  American  emigrants,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe ;  but  they  seldom  forget  their 
country,  and  almost  always  calculate  on  return- 
ing, to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labour  at  home. 

Migration  may  be  divided  into  that  which  is 
the  effect  of  compulsion,  and  that  which  is  volun- 
tary. 

Of  the  former  there  once  were  two  kinds,  both 
of  them  detrimental  and  disgraceful  to  us. 

In  the  infancy  of  our  provincial  establishments, 
when  the  mother  country  (as  it  was  affectionately 
temaed  by  us,)  exercised  without  opposition,  a 
strong  and  sometimes  injudicious  domination 
over  us,  she  thought  proper,  perhaps  without 
much  maternal  feeling,  to  export  a  certain  de- 
scription of  her  convicts,  to  intermingle  with  her 
faithful  and  industrious  colonists. 

If  this  transmission  of  profligacy  and  vice  was, 
at  first,  accepted  by  Virginia,  from  the  hands  of 
James  the  First  as  a  favour,  there  is  reason  to 


believe  that  it  was  soon  discovered  to  be  an 
evil.  (A)  It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  wretch 
whose  criminal  propensities  and  habits,  were 
little  altered  by  the  voyage,  submitted  with  re- 
pugnance on  his  arrival,  to  the  obligations  of  ser- 
vitude and  the  necessity  of  labour ;  that  efforts  to 
escape  were  common,  and  often  successful;  and 
that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  neither  the  colonies 
nor  the  parent  country,  were  ultimately  beneifited 
by  the  practice. 

But  colonists  can  do  little  more  than  murmm- 
and  submit. 

Pennsylvania,  feeling  the  injury  which  she 
could  not  wholly  prohibit,  hazarded  the  imposi- 
tion of  a  duty  on  every  convict  imported. 

It  checked,  without  destroying  the  evil. 

At  what  time  the  second  class  of  compelled 
migration,  the  importation  of  slaves,  commenced, 
we  are  not  exactly  able  to  say. 

I  trace  it  back  in  Virginia,  to  a  very  early  pe- 
riod ;  and  it  is  probal^le  that  with  her  the  practice 
commenced,  at  least  in  North  America.(B.) 

It  has  been  as^rted  that  the  mistaken  humani- 
ty of  Las  Casas,  originally  recommended  it  in  the 
Spanish  provinces.  It  vrill  be  pleasing,  if,  even  at 
this  late  hour,  his  memory  can  be  vindicated  from 
-o  gross  an  en'or. 

That  Pennsylvania  adopted,  or  at  least  permit- 
ted this  unnatural  addition  to  its  plain  and  sober 
population,  cannot  be  doubted.  In  the  year  se- 
venteen hundred,  William  Penn,  addressing  the 


8 

monthly  meeting  of  Friends,  expresses  anxiety  for 
the  Christian  instruction  of  the  negroes.  In  seven- 
teen hundred  and  five,  a  special  judicature  was 
erected  for  their  trial,  and  measures  were  taken 
indicating  some  alarm  and  apprehension,  at  the 
number  and  conduct  of  those  who-  had  been 
manumitted. 

'I  Other  cautionary  provisions,  which  may  be 
found  in  the  statute  book,  within  a  few  years 
afterwards,  concur  in  proving  the  sense  then  en- 
tertained of  the  impolicy,  although  they  did  not 
discover  or  at  least  did  not  prevent  the  injustice, 
of  this  forced  population. 

In  fact,  it  may  be  considered  that  every  spe- 
cies of  forced  population,  is  impolitic  and  unjust. 
It  is  the  natural  disposition  of  man  to  resist 
oppression,  and  as  soon  as  the  superiority  of  phy- 
sical force  is  removed,  the  reaction  of  the  suf- 
ferer commences. 

He  reclaims  his  original   rights;  refuses  the 
duties  that  were  imposed  on  him ;  if  he  can,  he 
leaves  the  country  to  which  he  has  been  dragged ; 
but  seldom,  very  seldom,  does  he  render  it  an)^ 
voluntary  and  effectual  services. 

Hence  we  may  account  for  the  unfavourable 
declaration  of  the  Pennsylvania  legislature,  in 
seventeen  hundred  and  twenty-five,  relative  to 
free  negroes. 

It  is  probable  that  at  that  time  the  free  negroes 
consisted  wholly  of  native  Africans,  torn  by  vio- 
lence from  their  homes,  and  feeling,  even  after . 


4 


manumission,  all  the  resentment  against  those 
who  brought  them,  and  all  the  aversion  against 
those  who  received  them,  which  would  naturally 
lead  to  sullenness  and  inaction. 

To  this  we  may  add,  a  certain  degree  of  help- 
lessness and  inefficiency,  arishig  from  the  want 
of  instruction. 

But  the  manumission  commonly  took  place 
when  it  was  too  late  to  instruct;  when  the  strength 
of  the  body  was  reduced  by  age,  and  the  faculties 
of  the  mind  were  clouded  by  the  continuity  of 
labour,  under  the  hopelessness  of  slavery. 

To  direct  the  severity  of  legislation  agamst 
those  who  were  brought  here  by  our  violence, 
and  degi'aded  by  our  treatment,  is  difficult  to  re- 
concile with  that  sound  justice,  which  has  almost 
always  characterised  our  code. 

Fifty  years  afterwards,  in  seventeen  hundred 
and  seventy-nine,  we  discovered  that  like  our- 
selves, they  were  men! 

The  fii-st  species  of  forced  migration  ceased  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war  of  the  revolution. 

The  second  ought  to  have  terminated  in  1808. 

Congress  then  received  the  constitutional 
power  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves,  but 
there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe,  that  their 
laws  have  been  frequently  and  shamefully 
evaded. 

I  turn  from  subjects  on  which  the  statesman 
cannot  meditate  without  surprise,  nor  the  philo- 
sopher without  regret,  to  the  more  pleasing  and 

B 


10 

more  useful  consideration  of  voluntary  migra- 
tion. 

It  has  been  heretofore  observed,  that  while  ir- 
rational animals  in  their  natural  state,  are  confined 
to  particular  portions  of  the  earth,  man  alone  can 
subsist  in  all. 

In  the  torrid,  the  temperate  or  the  frigid  zones, 
in  almost  every  latitude,  on  almost  every  soil,  the 
present  or  the  ancient  footsteps  of  man  are  to  be 
found. 

Where  labour  produces  subsistence,  he  re- 
mains ;  when  the  demand  exceeds  the  supply  he 
removes. 

But  this,  though  the  principal,  is  not  the  only 
cause  of  removal. 

The  spirit  of  adventm-e;  the  hopes  of  gain; 
religious  difficulties ;  national  oppression ;  domes- 
tic miseries,  and  various  other  motives,  produce 

it. 

Sometimes  an  entire  nation^  sometimes  only  a 
superfluous  part  of  its  population,  sometimes  but 
a  small  portion  of  dissatisfied  or  enterprising  in-  ^ 
dividuals  receive  the  impulse,  and  migration  com-  ^ 
mences. 

The  successive  waves  of  the  northern  inunda- 
tions, many  centuries  ago,  ovez^helmed  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe;  and  the  island  of  Great  Britain, 
from  which  we  received  the  rudiments  of  our  laws^ 
a  prey  by  turns  to  the  Saxons,  the  Danes,  and  the 
Normans,  may  be  justly  considered  as  now  re- 
taining few  traces  of  its  aboriginal  features. 


11 

Many  curious  and  important  changes  in  general 
polity,  proceeded  fi'om  these  migratory  usurpa- 
tions ;  one  of  which  is,  particularly,  coincident  with 
the  present  subject. 

Land,  one  of  the  main  objects  of  avidity,  as- 
sumed a  pre-eminent  character,  in  their  institu- 
tions, not  with  a  view  to  its  improvement  by 
agriculture,  (for  to  prevent  an  attachment  to  par- 
ticular spots  produced  by  cultivation,  an  annual 
change  of  occupancy  among  the  followers  of  the 
chief  was  long  the  custom)  but  because  the  hardy 
and  ferocious  conqueror,  despising  the  luxuries 
of  cities,  sought  a  simple  and  certain  subsistence 
in  the  raising  of  cattle  and  production  of  grain,- 
because  the  habits  of  the  soldier  appeared  to 
them  less  Uable  to  be  lost  in  the  husbandman 
than  in  the  artizan ;  and  because,  by  being  thus 
spread  over  the  surface  of  the  conquered  teni- 
tory,  the  old  inhabitants  could  more  easily  be 
controlled. 

Land  became  the  property  of  the  chief,  and 
was  held  of  him  and  under  him,  in  a  manner  un- 
known to  the  Romans,  the  previous  masters  of 
the  world. 

Who  were  then  the  possessore  of  these  shores, 
fi^om  whence  they  came,  and  how  and  when  they 
disappeared,  whether  they  voluntaiily  removed  to 
the  milder  climates  of  the  south,  or  were  expelled 
or  extirpated  by  the  wild  uncultured  tribes,  whom 
the  fifteenth  century  found  in  possession,  we  shall 
never  know  with  certainty. 


42 

The  phantoms  ot  these  nations,  like  those  ot 
the  departed  heroes  of  Ossian,  seem  to  pass  over 
the  plain,  and  the  functions  of  history  are  lost  in 
the  evanescent  forms  of  the  imagination. 

On  such  subjects  the  traditions  of  the  natives 
afford  little  satisfaction. 

Without  the  aid  of  letters  history  soon  evapo- 
rates in  fable. 

Three  or  four  generations  may  be  considered 
the  extent  of  the  traditionary  deposit  of  fact. 

Visible  objects  sometimes  assist  to  explain,  and 
sometimes  only  contribute  to  obscure. 

Those  wondrous  mounds,  which  astonish  the 
traveller  and  perplex  the  antiquary,  only  prove  to 
us  that  there  once  were  inhabitants  unlike  those 
with  whom  we  are  now  acquainted. 

A  race  of  uncivilized  hunters  alone  appeared  to 
welcome  or  to  resist  the  first  European  settlers. 

But  in  general  there  was  no  opposition.  The 
European,  unless  he  set  the  example  of  violence, 
was  kindly  received. 

The  savage  soon  began  to  barter  for  articles 
before  unknown  to  him,  the  value  of  which,  how- 
ever, to  liis  present  comfort  was  easily  perceived, 
large  tracts  of  land,  his  occupancy  of  which  was 
marked  by  little  more  than  his  light  footsteps  in 
pursuit  of  the  buftaloe  or  the  deer. 

It  has  sometimes  been  asserted  that  such  pur- 
chases were  unnecessary;  that  he  who  lives  by 
the  chase  alone,  can  have  no  title  to  the  soil,  and 
that  those  who  propose  to  cultivate  it,  have  a  na- 


13 

tural  right  to  take  it  from  him,  because  their  oc- 
cupation will  be  of  more  service  to  mankind. 

Doctrines,  such  as  these,  are  now  indeed  prac- 
tically exploded  among  us.  The  acquisitions  by 
the  geneml  government  are  made  by  fan-  and 
open  purchase ;  and  where  the  looseness  of  tra- 
ditionary title  and  scattered  occupancy  has  creat- 
ed doubts,  it  has  been  the  prudent  course  of  the 
United  States  to  extend  their  contracts  and  pay 
considerations  to  every  tribe  that  set  up  a  pro- 
bable claim  to  the  lands  in  question. 

The  adoption  of  the  principle  adverted  to 
would  tend  to  sap  the  foundations  of  property. 

If  the  right  of  possession  were  once  admitted 
to  be  founded  on  the  utility  of  employment,  the 
cottager,  who  was  desirous  to  cultivate  a  garden, 
might  claim  the  ornamental  lawn  or  the  enclosed 
park  of  his  wealthy  neighbour.  What  would  be 
iniquitous  and  absurd  among  individuals  would 
not  be  less  so  in  respect  to  nations ;  and  a  sort  of 
public  piracy  would  thus  be  generated,  accompa- 
nied with  this  peculiar  character,  that  its  own 
acquisitions  would  be  as  destitute  of  permanency 
as  of  justice ;  since  every  person,  claiming  a  title 
under  it,  would  be  equally  bound  to  surrender  it 
to  him  who  afterwards  proved  that  he  could  em- 
ploy it  to  gi^eater  advantage. 

But  what  ought  not  to  be  taken  by  force  may 
justly  be  acquired  by  contract.  If  the  native  is^  wil- 
ling to  sell,  the  stranger  may  fairly  purcliase: 


14 

although  with  the  first  act  of  cession  the  fate  of 
the  hunting  class  may  be  predicted. 

Agriculture,  slowly  and  steadily  advancing,  pro- 
pels before  it  the  game  and  those  whose  subsist- 
ence depends  upon  the  game. 

More  land  soon  becomes  necessary  to  the  hus- 
bandman, and  the  hunter,  already  abridged  in  his 
means  of  subsistence  and  inclined  to  renew,  by 
purchase,  those  comforts  which  at  first  were  un- 
known to  him,  is  again  prepared  to  sell. 

The  numbers  of  one  class  increase,  the  num- 
bers of  the  other,  without  violence  or  war,  gra- 
dually diminish ;  and,  unless  they  adopt  the  pro- 
tecting art  of  agriculture,  the  natives  in  time  will 
wholly  disappear. 

That  this  is  the  efffect  of  agriculture  operating 
on  those  whose  subsistence  depends  on  the  chase, 
is  obvious  from  the  present  state  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Mexico,  as  related  by  Humboldt. 

The  Spaniards  have  never  shown  an  extraordi- 
nary solicitude  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  natives : 
but  in  Mexico,  they  found  an  agricultural  nation, 
and  with  all  the  cruelties  they  exercised  over 
them,  there  still  remain  aborigines  enough  to 
constitute  two-fifths  of  their  present  population. 

On  this  subject.  It  is  to  be  wished  that  more 
strenuous  efforts  could  be  made  to  prove  the  im- 
portance, and  impart  the  knowledge  of  agricul- 
ture to  the  natives. 

The  partial  success  of  some  of  the  society  of 
Friends,  in  the  states  of  New  York  and  Ohio, 


15 

and  of  some  public  spirited  individuals  on  the 
confines  of  Georgia,  strongly  prove  the  necessity 
of  national  co-operation. 

It  is  pleasing  to  notice  the  efforts  now  making 
by  some  highly  respectable  characters  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  to  promote  this  great  object.  (C) 

But  our  frontier  inhabitants,  generally  regard 
the  natives  with  aversion,  and  treat  them  with 
contempt 

It  would  be  their  interest,  to  unite  in  the  en- 
deavours to  convert  the  impoverished  and  dis- 
contented hunter,  into  an  industrious  and  useful 
fanner. 

In  North  America,  there  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  the  number  of  Indians  is  now  as  great 
as  it  was,  when  fii^t  discovered. 

The  migration  of  a  tribe  of  hunters,  to  another 
tribe  of  hunters,  is  never  welcome  to  the  latter. 

The  hunter  cannot  well  have  too  much  space. 

The  strangers  consume  a  portion  of  the  food 
on  which  he  depends,  without  contributing  to  in- 
crease the  stock. 

Our  citizens  at  present  form  three  general 
classes. 

1st,  Those  who  practice  the  productive  art  of 
agriculture,  including  the  raising  of  animal  food. 

2dly,  Those  who  are  engaged  in  manufactures, 
and 

3dly,  Those  who  pursue  commerce. 

The  great  preponderance  of  the  first  class,  in 


16 

point  of  numbers,  impresses  a  character  on  the 
present  discussion. 

Were  we  merely  a  nation  of  merchants,  of  ar- 
tists or  of  warriors ;  different  principles  would  be 
found  to  apply. 

There  is  an  obvious  distinction,  between  ad- 
mitting and  inviting  emigration. 

A  nation  in  a  state  of  peace  and  safety,  ought 
not  to  deny  a  hospitable  reception  to  the  fugitive, 
from  oppression  or  misfortune  at  home. 

This  is  the  debt  of  humanity. 

But  considerations  of  a  different  structure  press 
upon  us,  when  we  examine  whether  it  is  now  ex- 
pedient, to  take  pains  to  invite  the  inhabitants  of 
other  nations  to  join  our  community. 

This  is  a  legitimate  question  of  self-interest, 
and  it  depends  on  our  own  wants. 

ist.  Do  we  require  them  to  improve  our  condi- 
tion? 

2d,  Do  we  require  them  for  our  safety  ? 

3d,  Is  our  present  population  too  small  in  re- 
spect to  the  quantity  of  land? 

4th,  Is  our  own  natural  increase  too  slow? 

1st,  In  about  two  hundred  years,  a  population 
exceeding  six  millions  of  free  persons,  is  found 
in  the  full  and  useful  possession  of  our  soil. 

A  small  proportion  of  these  millions,  is  com- 
posed of  recent  emigrants  from  Europe. 

Much  the  greatest  part  consists  of  descendants 
from  the  original  emigrants. 

Possessed  of  the  arts  and  sciences  of  Europe, 


17 

we  have  enlarged  and  improved  on  them,  till  we 
feel  no  inferiority  in  whatever  tends  to  promote 
the  domestic  convenience  and  increase  the  ra- 
tional blessings  of  life. 

What  we  do  not  already  know  and  practice,  is 
easily  obtained  by  literary  communications:  the 
times  are  past,  when  knowledge  could  only  be 
acquired  by  actual  inspection. 

But  we  need  no  information  from  other  quar- 
ters, to  improve  our  political  systems,  unless  it  is 
to  teach  us  what  we  ouglit  to  avoid. 

Histoiy  affords  no  instance  of  a  republican  form 
of  government,  more  perfect  in  theory,  or  more 
successful  in  practice,  than  our  own. 

A  full  comparison  of  advantages  and  defects 
would  at  present  be  misplaced. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  if  any  improvements 
in  principle  or  effect,  should  in  time  be  found 
necessary,  it  is  most  probable  that  they  will  be 
better  discovered  and  administered  by  ourselves, 
than  by  strangers ;  however  sound  and  friendly 
their  intentions  may  be. 

2d.  Nor  do  we  require  an  extraneous  accession 
of  numbers,  to  contribute  to  our  safety,  if  ill  for- 
tune should  again  involve  us  in  defensive  hos- 
tility. 

The  events  of  our  second  war,  assure  us  that 
our  numbers,  skilfulness  and  courage,  are  suffi- 
cient for  our  own  protection. 

3d,  and  4th.  What  other  motives  can  impel  us 

to  desire  an  increase  of  population  in  this  mode? 

c 


18 

Is  our  produce  more  than  we  consume? 

Commerce  carries  away  the  sui-plus. 

We  need  not  invite  others  merely  to  consume 
it  at  home. 

Have  we  lands  that  require  cultivation? 

We  have  mUlions,  and  by  gmdual  acquisitions 
^all  have  many  millions  more  of  acres,  which 
will,  hereafter,  be  covered  by  our  own  natural  in- 
crease. 

The  land  does  not  so  much  require  the  people 
as  our  own  people  will,  in  time,  require  the  land. 

A  view  of  the  census  of  1790,  compared  vnth 
that  of  1810,  sufficiently  shows  the  progress  of 
natural  increase. 

In  1790  the  total  white  or  free  po- 
pulation amounted  to 3,231,630 

In  1810  to 6,037,539 

Thus,  in  tw^enty  years,  it  was  almost  doubled. 

What  proportion  of  this  increase  is  to  be  cre- 
dited to  emigration  we  have  no  materials  to  cal- 
culate. 

The  next  census  will,  doubtless,  show  a  pro- 
portional increase  beyond  that  of  1810 ;  and  it 
is  certain  that  the  migration  to  this  country  has 
been  very  great  smce  the  peace. 

In  1817,  the  only  year  of  which  we  have  cer- 
tain data,  the  number  amounted  to  22,240. 

It  is  beheved,  however,  not  to  have  been  so 
gi*eat  before  or  since. 

But  we  may  justly  refer  to  single  states,  out  of 
which  it  is  beheved  the  quantity  of  migration  has 


1« 

been,  in  proportion,  greater  than  any  other,  and 
into  which  it  is  certain  migi'ation  has  been  very 
small. 

Connecticut,  in  1790,  contained  of  free 

inhabitants 235,182 

In  1810 261,632 

From  New  Jersey,  which  like  Connecticut,  has 
no  bodies  of  profitable  vacant  land  on  which  to 
spread  a  super-abundance  of  population,  there  has 
been  a  considerable  emigration. 

Her  population,  of  the  same  character, 

amounted  in  1790  to 172,716 

In  1810 237,711 

On  comparing  the  tables,  it  wiU  be  found  that 
the  population,  of  every  one  of  the  old  states  in 
the  Union,  has  increased;  although  from  every 
state  in  the  Union,  considerable  bodies  of  emi- 
grants have  removed  to  cultivate  the  additional 
territories  acquired  to  the  west. 

There  is  no  mystery  in  the  principle  which  has 
produced  this  result. 

When  a  population  is  so  overcharged,  as  to 
render  subsistence  difficult,  the  removal  of  the 
excess  renews  the  means  of  subsistence  to  those 
who  remain,  and  revives  the  tendency  to  natural 
increase. 

From  these  considerations  it  seems  to  follow, 
that  this  country  is  not  required  to  make  any  ma- 
terial alteration  in  its  polity,  for  the  purpose  of 
alluring  strangers  to  join  it. 

But  without  inviting,  we  are  ready  to  receive, 


20 

and  hence  arises  the  liberty  to  inquire  and  decide 
what  description  of  foreigners  it  is  desirable  to 
receive,  and  to  whom  it  would  be  useful,  were  it 
practicable,  to  render  access  difficult. 

It  must  be  repeated  that  from  this  enumeration 
we  are  always  to  except  those,  whom  tyranny  and 
oppression  of  any  kind,  public  giievances  or  per- 
sonal afflictions,  may  give  a  claim  on  our  huma- 
nity. 

When  we  proceed  on  the  principles  assumed, 
to  ascertain  the  value  of  the  emigrant,  we  must 
consider  the  nature  of  his  occupation. 

The  first,  and  most  ufeeful  class,  consists  of 
those  who  bring  with  them  the  moral  and  physi- 
cal habits  and  capacity  of  productive  labour. 

The  husbandman,  the  grazier,  the  gardener; 
those  who  till  the  eailh,  or  raise  the  quadruped, 
should  be  foremost  in  the  ranks  of  hospitable  re- 
ception. 

Next  to  these  we  place  the  artist. 

Not  the  fabricator  of  the  frivolous  gratifications 
of  luxury,  but  of  solid  and  substantial  articles, 
either  of  the  first  necessity,  or  conducive  to  the 
sober  and  wholesome  comforts  of  middle  life. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  third,  that  is,  the 
commercial  class  form  a  desirable  accession  to  us. 

Every  reflecting  mind  must  perceive  that  too 
large  a  portion  of  our  citizens  is  already  engaged 
in  commerce  for  their  own  interests  or  those  of 
the  nation. 

Commerce  is  merely  a  commutative  art. 


21 

It  adds  nothing  to  the  national  stock;  its  office 
is  to  exchange  the  surplus  product  of  one  coun- 
try, or  part  of  a  country,  for  that  of  another. 

Every  nation  will  always  find  a  sufficient  por- 
tion of  its  own  citizens  ready  to  engage  in  it,  un- 
less, as  in  China,  they  should  be  restrained  by  the 
government.  And  it  may  be  laid  down  as  an  axiom 
that  the  sudden  establishment  of  a  large  class  of 
foreign  merchants,  in  an  agricultural  society,  will 
always  prove  injurious  to  it. 

A  healthy  industrious  farmer  is  a  more  valuable 
accession  to  the  political  strength  than  a  mercan- 
tile house  with  a  large  capital  from  a  foreign 
country. 

Considering  then  the  fii^t  and  certain  portions 
of  the  second  class,  as  the  description  of  foreign- 
ers whom  it  is  for  the  national  interest  to  receive 
into  our  population,  the  next  Inquiry  is,  in  what 
mode  and  to  what  extent  their  migration  may  be 
facilitated  and  encouraged. 

In  respect  to  the  passage  across  the  Atlantic, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  mercenary  views  of 
some  owners  of  ships  or  their  captains,  operating 
on  the  general  ignorance  of  peasantry  in  respect 
to  naval  matters,  have  produced  sickness  and 
death  to  many  of  then-  passengers. 

This  is  a  cause  of  public  interference  as  well  on 
the  part  of  the  nation,  fi'om  which  the  migration 
takes  place,  as  on  the  part  of  that  to  which  it  is 
directed. 


22 

Considerations  of  humanity  are  binding  upon 
both. 

But  the  European  nation  is  additionally  stimu- 
lated by  tUe  desire  of  restraining  emigration ;  and 
hence  some  recent  regulations  of  the  British  Par- 
liament have  taken  place  on  this  subject. 

With  us  the  additional  motive  is  that  a  healthy 
and  efficient  population  should  alone  be  intro- 
duced. 

The  subject  is  now  before  Congress. 

The  features  of  the  plan  under  their  conside- 
ration I  know  not. 

There  is  perhaps  some  difficulty  in  devising  a 
proper  mode  of  prevention. 

To  prohibit  an  entry  to  the  sickly  and  dejected 
passengers,  would  be  to  punish  one  for  the  offence 
of  another. 

Perhaps,  to  strip  the  avaricious  owner  of  his 
profits,  by  exempting  his  passengers  from  the 
payment  of  their  fi*eight,  and  compelling  him  to 
land,  and,  for  a  time,  provide  for  those  who  had 
suffered  by  the  want  of  room,  wholesome  food,^ 
and  proper  comforts  on  board,  would  not  be  too 
severe. 

The  next  step  in  our  inquiries  is  the  process  of 
receiving  the  emigrant  into  our  community. 

It  may  be  reduced  to  four  general  heads* 

1st.  Personal  safety  and  protection. 

2d.  Freedom  of  religious  opinion. 

3d.  Acquisition  of  property. 

4th.  Participation  in  political  rights. 


2S 

1st.  Every  stranger  is  entitled,  at  the  moment 
of  landing,  to  the  protection  of  the  law. 

The  alien,  the  naturaUzed  and  the  native  citi- 
zen, are  alike  the  objects  of  its  care,  and  alike  the 
subjects  of  its  power. 

Human  society  presents  its  loveliest  aspect 
when,  as  with  us,  no  discrimination  exists  but  that 
between  virtue  and  vice ;  when  the  only  rule,  to 
which  conformity  is  required,  is  that  which  levels 
all  distinctions  of  rank,  and  all  inequalities  of  pro- 
perty ;  presentmg  to  the  good  the  even  surface  of 
the  lake,  but  exhibiting  to  the  guilty  the  storm  of 
the  ocean. 

It  has  sometimes  been  erroneously  supposed  by 
emigrants,  that  on  their  arrival  here,  they  will  be 
exempted  ti'om  the  payment  of  debts,  or  the  per- 
formance of  other  moral  obligations  to  persons 
abroad. 

It  is  only  when  the  laws  of  his  own  countiy 
liave  discharged  the  honest  but  unfortunate  bank- 
iiipt,  from  pressures  at  home,  that  a  national  cour- 
tesy extends  that  protection  here. 

In  almost  all  cases  he  meets  his  creditoi's  on 
our  soil  as  he  would  upon  his  own. 

2d.  The  freedom  of  religious  opinions  is  now 
secured  to  all,  provided  their  practice  does  not 
disturb  the  peace  of  tlie  Commonwealth. 

The  history  of  some  of  the  eastern  colonies 
was,  for  a  time,  disfigured  by  religious  pei-secu- 
tion ;  the  more  extraordinary  as  they  fled  from 
intolerance  at  home  to  practise  it  abroad. 


24 

To  the  southward  it  was  scarcely  known. 
It  is  a  remarkable  historical  fact,  that  in  the 
two  adjoining  provinces  of  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania, peopled  by  two  of  the  most  opposite 
sects,  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Society  of 
Friends,  a  similar  course  should  have  been  pur- 
sued. 

Both  Penn  and  Calvert  declared  and  secured 
to  all  professors  of  the  Christian  religion  the 
freedom  of  religious  opinion;  and  both,  instead 
of  striving  to  conquer,  peacefully  purchased  the 
land  of  the  natives. 

On  this  subject,  credit  has  lately  been  claimed 
for  the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island, 
some  years  before  the  settlement  of  Pennsylva- 
nia. 

Roger  Williams  was  certainly  an  extraordinary 
man ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  his  libera- 
lity was,  in  a  great  degree,  a  defensive  measure 
against  his  own  persecutors  in  Massachusetts ;  that 
his  purchase  of  the  Indians  was  the  effect  of  ne- 
cessity to  procure  himself,  in  secret,  an  asylum 
from  his  enemies ;  and  that  the  toleration  did  not " 
extend  to  the  Roman  Catholics. 

The  system  of  Penn  seems  to  have  been  found- 
ed on  broader  and  nobler  principles;  yet,  it  is 
possible  that  the  examples,  both  of  Sir  George 
Calvert  and  of  Roger  Williams,  who  were  nearly 
cotemporaries,  may  have  confirmed  his  original 
intentions  by  the  evidence  of  their  success.  (D) 
3d.  That  the  acquisition  of  property  should  be 


25 

free,  and  the  protection  of  it  certain,  is  essential 
to  our  own  interests. 

We  cannot  otherwise  convert  the  emigrant  into 
a  useful  citizen. 

But  the  feudal  origin  of  our  laws  already  ad- 
verted to.  has  drawn  a  distinction,  not  perhaps 
well  founded  in  the  intrinsic  character  of  property 
itself;  and  forming,  in  reference  to  the  agricultu- 
ral class,  an  unnecessary  impediment  to  the  ani- 
mation and  success  of  their  labour. 

While  personal  property,  to  any  extent,  might 
be  acquired  and  enjoyed,  the  ownership  of  an 
acre  of  land  was  in  some  colonies,  withheld  from 
the  alien. 

A  long  interval  succeeded  his  arrival  before  he 
could  cease  to  labour  for  the  benefit  of  another, 
and  attain  that  enviable  condition,  the  value  of 
which  is  less  estimated  here  because  it  is  so  com- 
mon, the  possession  of  an  independent  freehold. 

Yet  this  is  precisely  the  sort  of  property  which 
it  is  for  the  interest  of  the  nation  to  allow  the 
agiicultural  emigrant  immediately  to  acquire. 

If  the  artist  may  open  his  workshop,  fabricate 
and  dispose  of  his  wares;  the  merchant,  with  a 
small  additional  charge  of  tonnage  duty,  purchase 
and  employ  ships,  or  fill  his  stores  with  his  own 
goods  on  their  respective  arrivals,  surely  the  hus- 
bandman should  not  be  compelled  to  remain 
years,  before  he  is  allowed  to  become  the  propri- 
etor of  the  very  subject  which  he  migrates  to  ob- 
tain. 

D 


26 

It  seems  that  in  Pennsylvania,  aliens  were  ori- 
ginally allowed  to  hold  lands. 

The  sound  judgment  of  William  Penn,  enabled 
him  to  discover  the  utility  of  this  permission^ 
and  legislative  measures  appear  to  have  been 
adopted  in  support  of  it. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  law  itself,  but 
from  the  querulous  preamble  to  the  first  natu- 
ralization act,  which  was  passed  in  1708,  it  may 
be  inferred,  that  it  was  repealed  by  queen  Anne, 
in  council;  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  our  Assem- 
bly. (E) 

Since  the  peace  of  1783,  such  license  has  again 
been  granted,  and  withdrawn. 

But  a  very  recent  provision  has  been  made  on 
this  subject. 

By  an  act  of  the  24th  March  last,  aliens  may 
purchase  lands  within  our  boundaries,  not  ex- 
ceeding five  thousand  acres  in  each  instance :  and 
all  former  purchases  made  by  foreigners,  previous 
to  declaring  their  intentions  to  become  citizens^ 
and  who  have  since  been  naturalized,  are  con- 
firmed. 

It  may  be  hoped,  that  the  last  law  will  be  per- 
manent. 

The  old  feudal  principles,  are  now  merely  no- 
minal. Fealty  and  homage,  in  respect  to  land, 
have  ceased  to  be  operative  relations. 

Allegiance  and  protection,  resulting  from  resi- 
dence, are  more  efficient. 

In  time  of  war,  it  is  less  easy  for  the  non-resi- 


27 

dent  owiiei-  to  withdraw  his  property  in  land 
than  in  chattels. 

Even  the  income  may  be  easily  withheld  from 
him,  by  the  government. 

In  peace,  his  cultivation  tends  to  increase  the 
national  stock;  and  he  will  export  the  produce,  or 
consume  it  here,  on  precisely  the  same  principles 
as  those  which  actuate  the  proper  citizen ;  that  is 
by  ascertaining  which  will  be  most  profitable  to 
himself,  and  whatever  is  most  profitable  to  him, 
will  be  so  to  the  nation. 

But  the  removal  of  legal  obstacles,  is  not  alone 
sufficient. 

When  the  state  has  no  longer  any  lands  of  its 
own  to  gi'ant,  the  facility  of  acquisition  depends 
on  the  will  of  the  private  owners.  Large  tracts 
are  often  withheld  for  a  long  time,  from  errone- 
ous fixtures  of  price.  In  truth  it  is  the  interest  of 
such  proprietors  to  dispose  of  their  lands  to  ac- 
tual settlei^  on  moderate  terms,  and  to  grant  free- 
hold estates  in  preference  to  leases.  And  even 
with  low  prices,  long  credits  must  frequently  be 
allowed,  or  the  means  of  subsistence  and  cultiva- 
tion will  be  exliausted,  before  the  improvements 
have  been  carried  so  far  as  to  form  that  attach- 
ment to  the  spot,  which  will  render  its  cultivation 
most  useful  to  the  nation. 

A  mode  of  enabling  the  traveller  to  ascertain 
without  difficulty,  both  the  owner,  and  the  price 
of  the  land,  is  desirable. 

Some  sort  of  local  register  for  this  purpose 


2j^ 

might  be  convenient.  We  may  perhaps  account 
for  so  much  of  our  fertile  land  in  Pennsylvania 
being  passed  over  by  those  who  proceed  annually 
in  great  numbers  to  the  westward,  from  this  want 
of  information  as  to  the  owners. 

4th,  It  remains  only  to  admit  the  stranger,  thus 
liberally  protected  and  secured  in  person,  in  pro- 
perty and  in  religion,  to  the  equal  enjoyment  of 
political  privileges,  and  thus  render  him  com- 
pletely a  citizen. 

A  residence  of  five  years,  a  good  moral  cha- 
racter and  an  attachment  to  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States,  entitle  him  to  tliis  admission. 

Longer  and  shorter  periods  of  previous  resi- 
dence, have  heretofore  been  required. 

Perhaps  the  present  is  as  just  a  medium,  as 
could  be  fixed. 

Having  thus  traced  the  progress  of  the  emi- 
grant, from  his  first  landing,  to  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  rights  and  benefits  which  our  po- 
litical constitutions  can  bestow;  we  may  be 
allowed  to  congratulate  him  on  his  reception 
into  that  society,  where,  if  any  where  on  earth,  a 
state  of  perfect  happiness  may  be  obtained. 

What  then  become  his  duties  ? 

That  allegiance  which  he  owed  to  his  former 
country,  he  has  transferred  to  oui-s :  as  it  is  vo- 
luntary, it  ought  to  be  sincere ;  as  it  is  a  matter 
of  contract,  it  ought  to  be  faithfully  performed. 

In  war  he  must  contribute  to  defend ;  in  peace 
he  should  co-operate,  to  support  and  enrich  the 


29 

community  in  whose  prosperity  he  is  thus  perso- 
nally interested. 

To  enter  fully  and  fairly  into  the  equal  clas» 
of  citizens,  to  intermingle  with  the  inhabitants, 
appear  to  a  certain  degree  his  duty. 

Although  we  may  not  be  able  to  prohibit,  yet 
we  cannot  applaud  the  little  separate  communi- 
ties, which  the  adherence  to  local  attachments 
has  led  some  foreigners  to  aim  at  among  us. 

Petty  societies  composed  of  individuals  from 
particular  nations,  collecting  themselves  in  de- 
tached spots,  and  exclusive  establishments,  do  not 
tend  to  increase  the  common  national  character 
of  Americans. 

They  form  English,  French  and  German  colo- 
nies in  the  heart  of  our  temtory. 

They  imbibe  very  slowly,  if  at  all,  the  general 
feeling,  opinions  and  affections  of  the  country, 
whose  adoption  they  have  sought. 

If  their  knowledge  and  their  habits  are  supe- 
rior to  those  of  their  American  neighboui*s,  the  be- 
nefit is  unjustly  withheld,  after  receiving  from  us 
all  the  encouragement  and  assistance  that  our  in- 
stitutions can  give. 

If  they  are  less  qualified  than  ourselves  to  sub- 
due the  difficulties,  and  enjoy  the  advantages,  of 
settlement  among  us,  the  dissociation  injures 
themselves. 

The  French  settlement  at  Vincennes,  as  related 
by  Volney,  forms  a  strikinjs:  proof  of  the  latter 
case. 


30 

Let  those,  who  are  admitted  among  us  as  citi- 
zens, cordially  and  intimately  unite  with  their  new 
fellow  citizens. 

Let  them  learn  our  improvements,  and  if  they 
have  any  which  we  do  not  possess,  let  them  teach 
us  their  own. 

Let  them,  when  they  abjure  the  allegiance  of 
law,  abjure  the  allegiance  of  opinion. 

They  will  not  suffer  by  the  exchange. 

They  will  learn  to  feel  that  they  are  not  Euro- 
pean emigi^ants  but  American  citizens. 

They  vsdll  thus  only  come  to  know  that  this  is 
their  real  country,  substantially  their  "  natale  so- 
lum," where  they  have  again  been  politically  born, 
and  they  will  thus  learn  to  realize  the  eloquent 
declaration  of  Ruth  to  Naomi;  "  Where  thou  go- 
est  I  will  go,  and  where  thou  dwellest  I  will 
dwell ;  thy  country  shall  be  my  country,  and  (in 
freedom  of  worship)  thy  God  my  God." 

When  we  cast  our  eyes  on  the  immense  por- 
tion of  the  earth  which  we  already  possess,  when 
we  extend  our  view  still  further  westward,  *-, 
over  plains,  where  the  foot  of  civilized  man  has 
not  yet  trodden,  where  the  light  of  the  gospel  has 
not  yet  shone,  where  the  savage  roams,  uncon- 
scious of  the  gradual  approach  of  civilization,  and 
ignorant  of  the  events  which  are  taking  place 
around  him,  our  minds  expand  at  the  prospect  of 
the  mighty  empire  whicli  is  forming  before  us. 

The  great  momentum  of  this  empire  will  al- 
ways be  agriculture. 


Its  regular  progress,  its  natural  increase,  its 
certain  hold,  its  analogy  to  the  best  faculties  of 
man,  its  conformity  to  the  will  of  heaven,  all 
combine  to  rank  it  the  great  engine  of  the  for- 
mation, the  prosperity  and  power  of  this  country. 

The  ancients  appropriated  various  deities  to 
its  protection. 

We  more  simply  and  more  reverently,  con- 
template agriculture,  as  that  employment  in  which 
man  is  most  strongly  impelled  by  his  own  works, 
to  look  up  with  gratitude  to  the  Author  of  good- 
ness. 

The  planter  cannot  behold,  without  reverence, 
the  seed  which  he  has  committed  to  the  earth, 
changing  its  form  and  rising  into  the  air;  succes- 
sively evolving  the  stem,  the  leaf,  the  fruit,  till  it 
yields,  in  manifold  increase,  the  sustenance  re- 
quired. 

He  is  Wind  if  he  does  not  there  discover  an 
agency  superior  to  his  own. 

He  is  hardened  if  he  does  not  revere  this  su- 
-perior  agency,  as  evincing  for  his  advantage, 
through  the  laws  of  nature,  the  power  of  God. 


APPENDIX 


Note  A.  Page  7. 

The  Political  Annals  of  the  present  United  Colonies,  by  George 
Chalmers,  printed  in  1780,  is  a  work  not  much  known  in  this 
country,  but  possessing  considerable  merit,  in  respect  to  labori- 
ous research,  and  accurate  detail.  The  author  had  free  access  to 
the  immense  deposit  of  papei*s,  in  the  Plantation  office  at  White- 
hall J  and  of  these  authorities,  which  are  not  frequently  consulted, 
he  has  fully  availed  himself,  in  tracing  many  points  of  ancient 
colonial  history. 

The  following  passage  is  extracted  from  page  46  of  these  An- 
nals. 

"  It  is  to  James,  however,  that  the  nation  and  the  colonies  ^we 
the  policy,  whether  salutary  or  baneful,  of  sending  convicts  to  the 
plantations.  From  him  the  treasurer  and  council  received  a  let- 
ter in  the  year  1619,  "  commanding  them  to  send  a  hundred  dis- 
solute persons  to  Virginia,  which  the  knight  marshal  would  deli- 
ver to  them."  And  in  obedience  to  the  royal  mandate,  they  re- 
solved to  transport  them  as  servants,  though  at  a  considerable 
f xpense.  Whatever  offence  a  similar  policy  lias  given  the  colo- 
nists in  modern  time,  "  those  dissolute  persons,"  if  we  may  credit 
their  historian,  "  were  then  very  acceptable  to  them."  The  good 
sense  of  those  days,  justly  considering  that  their  labour  would 
be  more  beneficial  in  an  infant  settlement,  which  had  an  immense 
wilderness  to  cultivate,  than  their  vices  could  possibly  be  perni- 
cious. The  only  law,  which  at  that  time  justified  the  infliction  of 
expulsion  as  a  punishment,  was  the  statute  of  Elizabeth ;  which 
enacted,  "  that  dangerous  rogues  might  be  banished  out  of  the 
realm."  But,  from  the  circumstance  of  that  transaction,  it  is  pro- 
bably that  the  obnoxious  men  above  mentioned  were  transported, 
agreeably  to  the  genius  of  the  administration  of  that  reign,  by  pre- 
rogative." 

E 


Note  B,  Pager. 

Virginia,  as  the  oldest  colony,  probably  set  the  example  to  the 
others.  The  first  importation  was  by  a  Dutch  ship,  in  1620.  Mar- 
shall's Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  i.  p.  63. 

Yet  it  was  not  without  the  disapprobation  of  wise  and  judicious 
men  among  them;  and  some  prohibitory  laws  of  an  early  date,  are 
Understood  to  have  been  passed  by  their  legislature,  and  subse- 
quently repealed  by  the  crown. 

Chalmers,  p.  327,  inserts  the  answers  of  "  the  famous  Sir  Wil- 
liam Berkley"  to  the  enquiries  of  the  lords  of  the  committee  of 
colonies,  "  We  suppose,  and  I  am  very  sure  we  do  not  much  mis- 
count, that  there  is  in  Virginia  about  40,000  persons,  men,  women 
and  children :  Of  which  there  are  2000  black  slaves ;  6000  Chris- 
tian servants  for  a  short  time ;  and  the  rest  have  been  born  in  the 
country,  or  have  come  in  to  settle  or  serve,  in  hopes  of  bettering 
their  condition  in  a  growing  country ;  yearly  we  suppose  there 
comes  in  of  servants  about  1500 ;  of  which  most  are  English,  few 
Scotch,  and  fewer  Irish;  and  not  above  two  or  three  ships  of  ne- 
groes in  seven  years." 

Rhode  Island  was  in  the  habit  of  importing  them,  in  1680 ;  se^ 
Chalmers,  p.  283. 

Note  C.  Page  15. 

To  those  instances,  should  be  added  the  representation  of  the 
society  of  Friends  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Delaware  and 
the  Eastern  parts  of  Maryland,  under  date  of  the  1st  of  January, 
1819,  and  recently  laid  before  Congress. 

It  is  very  ably  written,  and  concludes  with  earnestly  request- 
ing Congress  to  protect  the  aborigines  "  in  the  peaceable  possesv*-^ 
sion  of  their  rights,  and  extend  a  fostering  hand  for  their  advance- 
ment to  the  knowledge  of  obtaining,  and  comfortably  enjoying  the 
means  of  civilized  life*" 

Note  D.  Page  24. 

The  authority  for  the  purchase  of  the  Indians,  having  been  se- 
cretly made  for  the  purpose  mentioned  in  the  text,  is  Morse, 
Vol.  I.  p.  433. 

The  formal  act,  excluding  Roman  Catholics,  is  stated  by  Chal- 
mers, p.  S76,  and  was  passed  in  1663. 

Since  this  address  was  delivered  to  the  Society,  the  author  has 
seen  and  perftsed  with  great  pleasure,  the  anniversary  discourse 


S5 

«f  Mr.  Verplanck,  before  the  N^w  York  Historical  Society,  on  the 
7th  of  December,  1818. 

A  notice  of  this  work  in  one  of  the  newspapers,  led  him  to  sup- 
pose that  the  example  of  Roger  Williams,  was  introduced  in  a 
manner  somewhat  impairing  the  merit  of  William  Penn.  He^s 
happy  to  find  that  this  first  impression  was  erroneous.  The  author 
of  that  eloquent  discourse  has  with  great  liberality  of  mind,  and 
felicity  of  diction,  delineated  the  talents  and  peculiarities,  the 
difficulties  and  the  success  of  William  Penn,  so  as  not  to  strip 
him  of  the  fame  which  he  has  so  long  enjoyed. 

It  would  be  injustice  to  Mr.  Verplanck,  to  suflfer  this  work  to 
go  to  the  press  without  the  present  acknowledgment. 

Note  E.  Page  2G. 
This  act  may  be  found  in  Kinsey's  edition. 
The  part  of  the  preamble  referred  is  as  follows : — 
"  Now  forasmuch  as  the  value  of  land  in  this  province  being 
generally  but  the  effect  of  the  people's  labour,  their  plantations 
are  deemed  by  our  laws  but  as  chattels  to  pay  debts ;  and  stran- 
gers have  been  rendered  capable  to  hold  what  they  purchased  as 
fully  and  freely,  as  if  they  had  been  natural  born  subjects  of  this 
province ;  but  since  the  repeal  of  the  late  laws  made  after  the 
example  of  other  governments,  for  encouragement  of  the  peopling 
and  settling  this  colony,  some  doubts  and  questions  have  arisen 
whether  tlie  said  Germans  are  capable  to  hold  what  they  pur- 
chased as  aforesaid,  &c." 


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